Part 14

"The Parting of Goll with his Wife." From _Duanaire Finn_, edited by Prof. John MacNeill (Irish Texts Soc, vii., 1908), pp. 23 and 121. Goll was leader of the Connaught Fians and was opposed to Fionn, the chief of the Leinster warriors. He is described as a man of lofty disposition and great valour. In this poem he is standing, driven to bay by his enemies, on a bare rocky promontory, his wife only beside him, cut off from all hope of escape. Few poems relating to Goll remain in Ireland, but a good many survive in the Western Highlands of Scotland.

"Youth and Age." _Ibid._, pp. 80 and 194. It is Oisín (Ossian) who here laments his departed youth.

"Chill Winter." From the "Colloquy of the Ancients," _Silva Gadelica_, text, p. 172; translation, p. 192.

"The Sleep-song of Grainne." From _Duanaire Finn_, pp. 85 and 198. Dermot, who has carried off Grainne, the wife of Fionn, is lying down to rest in the forest, when Grainne hears the approach of their pursuers. She sings over him this passionate lullaby, in which the restless activities and foreboding terrors of the animal world are aptly used to heighten the sense of their own danger.

"The slaying of Conbeg, Fionn's beloved hound." Original in _Gaelic Journal_, ix. No. 104, Feb. 1899, p. 328; the poem occurs in the "Colloquy of the Ancients," where the readings are slightly different (_Silva Gadelica_, text, p. 143).

"The Fairies' Lullaby." Original in _Waifs and Strays of Celtic Tradition_, Argyleshire Series, No. iv. (David Nutt, 1891). It was collected in Argyleshire by John Gregorson Campbell.

"The Lay of the Forest Trees." Original in _Silva Gadelica_, i. p. 245; trans., ii. p. 278. This curious poem, which contains much folklore regarding forest-trees, arose out of the gathering of wood for a fire in the open air, by a servant or "Man of Smoke," as he is called. He accidentally threw upon it a block around which woodbine had twined. This called forth a protest from the onlookers, who declared that the burning of the woodbine would certainly bring ill-luck.

"St. Patrick's Breastplate." See Dr. Kuno Meyer's _Ancient Irish Poetry_ (Constable), pp. 25-7. Original in Stokes' and Strachan's _Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus_, ii. p. 354. Probably eighth century.

"Patrick's Blessing on Munster," ninth century. Original in Dr. Whitley Stokes' _Tripartite Life of St. Patrick_, p. 216; literal translation in Dr. Kuno Meyer's _Ancient Irish Poetry_, p. 29. The present poetic rendering, kindly contributed to my book by Mr. A. P. Graves, has not hitherto been published.

"Columcille's Farewell to Aran." See Dr. Douglas Hyde's _Three Sorrows of Story-telling_ (T. Fisher Unwin, 1895), pp. 146-8.

"Columba in Iona." Printed in William Skene's _Celtic Scotland_, ii. p. 92, from an Irish manuscript in the Burgundian Library, Brussels. It bears the ascription "Columcille fecit," and was transcribed and translated by O'Curry for Dr. Todd. Many poems are ascribed to the Saint, but the language of most of them is later than his time.

"Hymn to the Dawn." From _Silva Gadelica_, by Standish Hayes O'Grady (Williams & Norgate); original, vol. i. p. 56; literal trans., ii. p. 59. The hymn was composed by St. Cellach on the morning on which he was slain by his old friends and fellow-students, who had been bought over to destroy him.

"The Song of Manchan the Hermit." Original in _Ériu_, i. p. 39. A ninth century poem, with translation by Dr. Kuno Meyer.

"A Prayer." Original and literal translation by Miss Mary E. Byrne in _Ériu_, ii., Part i. p. 89.

"The Loves of Liadan and Curithir." This touching poem illustrates the tyrannical use sometimes made of their authority by the monks of the ancient Irish Church. St. Cummine, who was the confessor or "soul-friend" of the lovers, seems to have been a hard and censorious man. He lived in the first half of the seventh century. The poem, as we have it, is of the ninth century. Edited with translation by Dr. Kuno Meyer (D. Nutt, 1902). The love song has been reprinted in his _Ancient Irish Poetry_.

"The Lay of Prince Marvan." This song takes the form of a colloquy between Marvan, who had left his royal station to adopt a hermit life, and his brother King Guaire of Connaught (_d._ 662). Guaire, visiting him in his retirement, inquires why he prefers to sleep in a hut rather than in the comfort of a kingly palace; in reply Marvan bursts forth into a song in praise of his retired woodland life. Original in _King and Hermit_, edited by Dr. Kuno Meyer (D. Nutt, 1901); translation reprinted in _Ancient Irish Poetry_, p. 47.

"The Song of Crede." Text and translation in _Ériu_, ii. p. 15; its editor, Dr. Kuno Meyer, ascribes it to the tenth century. I have to thank Mr. A. P. Graves for most kindly giving me permission to use his unpublished poem.

"The Student and his Cat," eighth or ninth century. Written on the margin of a codex of St. Paul's Epistles, in the monastery of Carinthia. Original and translation in Stokes' and Strachan's _Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus_, ii. p. 293.

"Song of the Seven Archangels." Original in _Ériu_, ii., Part i. pp. 92-4, with literal translation by Thomas P. O'Nowlan. Mr. Ernest Rhys' poetical version, kindly contributed by him to this book, has not hitherto been published.

"Saints of Four Seasons." Original in _Ériu_, i., Part ii. pp. 226-7, with translation by Miss Mary E. Byrne. Mr. P. J. McCall's poetical version is printed in his _Irish Fireside Songs_ (M. H. Gill, Dublin, 1911).

"The Feathered Hermit." Original printed by Dr. K. Meyer in _Gaelic Journal_, iv., No. 40, February 1892, from a marginal note on Harl. MS. 5280 (Brit. Mus.).

"An Aphorism." _Ibid._; also from a marginal note.

"The Blackbird." Marginal note from a copy of Priscian in the monastery of St. Gall in Switzerland. Original in Stokes' and Strachan's _Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus_, p. 290.

"Deus Meus." Printed by Dr. Whitley Stokes in the _Calendar of Aengus_, clxxxv. It is found written on the margin of the _Leabhar Breac_, facs., p. 101, and is there ascribed to Maelisu ua Brolcan (_d._ 1086). Dr. George Sigerson's poetical rendering will be found in his _Bards of the Gael and Gall_ (T. Fisher Unwin, 1897), p. 193.

"The Soul's Desire." Original and literal translation by Dr. Kuno Meyer in the _Gaelic Journal_, vol. v., No. 6, 1894, p. 95. Though printed from comparatively late copies, the hymn gives the impression of being ancient.

"Song of the Sea." Original and literal translation by Dr. Kuno Meyer in _Otia Merseiana_ (Liverpool), ii. p. 76. It is ascribed to the poet Ruman, who died 707, but the editor believes it to be of the eleventh century.

"Lament of the Old Woman of Beare." From Dr. Kuno Meyer's text and translation in _Otia Merseiana_, i. p. 119 ff. It has since been reprinted in the author's _Selections from Early Irish Poetry_, pp. 88-91. The editor would put the poem down to the late tenth century.

"Gormliath's Lament for Nial Black-knee." From the Scottish _Book of the Dean of Lismore_, edited by Rev. Thos. M'Lauchlan.

"The Mother's Lament." First printed by Rev. Edmund Hogan in his _Latin Lives of the Irish Saints_ (Todd Lectures, V., 1894); see also _Gaelic Journal_, iv. p. 89, and Kuno Meyer's _Ancient Irish Poetry_, p. 42. Eleventh century? Mr. Graves has kindly given me permission to use his excellent unpublished version.

"Consecration." Original from the _Book of the Dean of Lismore_, a collection of poems made in the Western Islands about 1512 by Sir James McGregor, Dean of Lismore, Argyleshire, p. 121. It contains many Irish poems. This and the two following poems are ascribed to Murdoch O'Daly, called "Muredach Albanach," or Murdoch the Scot, on account of his long residence in that country. He is styled "Bard of Erin and Alba." He was a Connaught poet, who ended a stormy career by retiring to the Irish monastery of Knockmoy. It is probable that these religious poems, if not actually written by him, were composed about his period.

"Teach me, O Trinity," _ibid._, p. 123.

"The Shaving of Murdoch," _ibid._, p. 158 _note_, from a translation made by Standish H. O'Grady. This curious poem refers to the tonsuring of the bard and his contemporary Connaught chieftain, Cathal of the Red Hand, when they entered the monastery of Knockmoy together. In Scotland Murdoch is remembered as the first of the Macvurrachs, bards to the Macdonalds of Clanranald. He lived 1180-1225, and Cathal of the Red Hand, 1184-1225.

"Eileen Aroon." Original in Hardimen, i. p. 264; it should be compared with the version, _ibid_., p. 211. The present is the oldest form. Carol O'Daly, who composed it, was an accomplished Connaught gentleman, whose desire to marry Eileen Kavanagh was frustrated by her friends. He fled the country, but returned, disguised as a harper, on the eve of her marriage to another suitor, and entered the guest-chamber. He poured out this impassioned appeal with such good effect, that Eileen fled with him that night. The last lines are a welcome to her in response to her avowal of love. The air is very ancient; in Scotland it is known as "Robin Adair."

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"The Downfall of the Gael." Original in Hardiman's _Irish Minstrelsy_, ii. p. 102. O'Gnive, bard of the O'Neills of Clandaboy, accompanied Shane O'Neill to London in 1562, on the occasion of that chief's visit to Queen Elizabeth. The poem is a lament over the condition of Ireland and the inaction of the chiefs. Sir Samuel Ferguson's rendering will be found in _Lays of the Western Gael_ (Sealy, Bryers & Walker, 1888), p. 136.

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"Address to Brian O'Rourke of the Bulwarks" (_na murtha_), a poem of seventy quatrains from Egerton MS. iii., art. 85. Dr. Standish Hayes O'Grady has given specimens of this poem in his valuable _Catalogue of Irish MSS. in the British Museum_, pp. 412-20. Another poem addressed to the same chief will be found in Hardiman, ii. pp. 266-305, by John mac Torna O'Mulchonaire. The writer of the present poem, Teigue O'Higgin, called Teigue "Dall," _i.e._ the Blind, on account of his blindness, is one of the best of all the tribal poets of Ireland. He was poet to the chiefs of Co. Sligo, but he came to an untimely end on account of a satire made by him on the O'Haras, who had ill-used him, some time before 1617. In the poem we give, he endeavours to arouse Brian to action, and calls on him to unite the clans against England, a challenge which O'Rourke did not fail to obey. It is a good sample of much bardic poetry of the period.

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"Ode to the Maguire," by Eochadh O'Hosey or Hussey, the last bard of the Maguires, whose strongly fortified castle still frowns upon the waters of the Upper and Lower Lochs Erne, at Enniskillen, Co. Fermanagh. His young chief, Hugh Maguire, had marched into Munster in the depth of the winter of 1599-1600, with 2500 foot and 200 horse on a warlike foray; the bard, sitting at home in Fermanagh, bewails the hardships which he feels sure the chief and his followers are enduring in the open camps during the winter's weather. A fine copy of this poem is found in the O'Gara manuscript in the Royal Irish Academy, Dublin, of which Egerton III is a copy (and see O'Grady's _Catalogue_, p. 451).

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"A Lament for the Princes of Tyrone and Tyrconnel," by the family bard, Red Owen Mac Ward, in the form of an address of comfort to O'Donnell's sister, Nuala, who is supposed to be weeping over her brother's grave in Rome, where he had taken refuge after his flight from Ireland. He lies buried, beside Hugh O'Neill, in the Church of San Pietro Montario, on the Janiculum. The bard imagines the clans of the North of Ireland gathering to bewail the dead and share Nuala's grief. Though Mangan's broken metre imparts a fervour and fire to the original, he adds nothing to its slow monotonous impressiveness. For original see Egerton III, Art. 48 (Brit. Mus.), and translation of extracts in O'Grady's _Catalogue_, pp. 371-3. Mangan's version has been often reprinted.

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"Co. Mayo." There are many versions of this favourite song. That given here is said to have been composed by a bard named Thomas Flavell, a native of Bophin on the Western Seaboard. Hardiman gives the Irish of this song, i. p. 337; and also another version by David O'Murchadh, or Murphy, _ibid._, pp. 229-33. Flavell was a poor dependent on the fourth Earl of Mayo, and lived about the middle of the seventeenth century. For a different song of the same name, see Dr. Hyde's _Poems of Raftery_, p. 96.

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"The Flower of Nut-brown Maids" is the oldest of the numerous songs written to the air "Uileacán Dubh O." This poem dates from the seventeenth century, and it is said to be an invitation addressed by one of the unfortunate landowners, driven out of Ulster during the plantation of James I, to his lady, to follow him to Leitrim. It seems to refer to a time of famine, and is, like many other love-songs, in the form of a colloquy. Original in Hardiman, i. p. 258.

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"Roisín Dubh," from the original in O'Daly's _Poets and Poetry of Munster_, where two versions are given. It is the poem on which Mangan founded his "Dark Rosaleen." The poem is an address to Ireland, veiled as a woman. Hardiman gives some quatrains in vol. i. pp. 254-61.

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"The Fair Hills of Éire" is one of several sets of words attached to the tender old air "Uileacán Dubh O," or "Oh, the heavy lamentation." One, rendered familiar in Dr. Samuel Ferguson's version, beginning, "A plenteous place is Ireland for hospitable cheer," is said to have been written by an Irish student in one of the colleges of France probably early in the seventeenth century, when most of the promising Irish youths went abroad for their education. The version here given in Dr. Sigerson's fine rendering was written by Donnchad Ruadh MacNamara about 1730. It has also been rendered into English by Mangan. For the original, see _Poems by Donnchadh Ruadh MacNamara_, edited by Tomás O'Flanngháile (1897). Dr. George Sigerson's poem will be found in his _Bards of the Gael and Gall_ (T. Fisher Unwin, 1897), p. 245.

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"Love's Despair" (_ibid._, p. 339). This touching poem was written by a young farmer of Cork who, near the time of his marriage, had gone into the city to buy the wedding-dress for his betrothed. On his way back he heard that she had been married to another man. In despair he flung his presents into the fire. His reason gave way, and he roamed the country henceforth, ever singing the cruelty of Mary and his own misfortunes. His story was well known in Co. Waterford, where he lived a great part of his life. Original in _Gaelic Journal_, vol. iii., 1887, p. 22.

The literal translation of the second stanza runs as follows:--

"No one knows my case, or how I may find life, But only the woman who has made me ill; My cure is not on sea or shore, nor in herb or skill of hand, My cure is only in the Flower of Youth. I know not hen from cuckoo, I know not heat from cold, At no time do I know my friends; I know not night from day,--but my heart would know its love, Should she come in time to save me."

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"The Cruiskeen Lawn." Dr. Sigerson's version (_ibid._, p. 258), here reproduced, shows that this popular air, better known in connection with O'Keeffe's rollicking drinking song, was also used as a Jacobite political poem. The chorus and name of the air, _i.e._ "The little full jug," show that its true intent is bacchanalian. We find this chorus, like many others, attached to songs of different significance. Petrie, in his collection of _Ancient Irish Music_, p. 37, attaches it to a verse of a lullaby:--

"My love is upon the river, And he rocking from wave to wave; A tree without foliage over his head-- And what does my Love want a-straying there?"

(see also _Gaelic Journal_, viii., 1898, p. 224).

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"Eamonn an Chnuic" or "Ned of the Hill" is founded on the history of a famous outlaw named Edmund O'Ryan, born in Shanbohy, Co. Tipperary, late in the seventeenth century. His father possessed considerable property in his native county, but his wild career led to his outlawry. The piercing note of the words and of the air of the same name is typical of much of the poetry of the period. "Ned of the Hill" lies buried near Fáill an Chluig in the barony of Kilnemanagh, Co. Tipperary. Some versions give several other verses, of a different character. It is a love-song as given by Hardiman, "A chúil áluinn deas," i. p. 268, and by Mangan in his _Poets and Poetry of Munster_, p. 264. The literal translation here printed is from Mr. P. H. Pearse's contributions in the _Irish Review_, Dublin (November 1911), p. 437. Mr. Pearse says, "'Eamonn an Chnuic' is commonly looked upon as a love-song, but I feel sure that to its shaper and to those who first heard it, the figure of the outlaw, driven by rain-storm and bullet-storm and beating against the closed door, mystically symbolised the lonely cause of Ireland."

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"O Druimin donn dileas," an early Jacobite song, sometimes supposed to apply to Prince James Charles Edward, but more probably to Ireland itself under the symbolic name of the "Beloved white-backed dun cow." Original in Hardiman, ii. p. 145. See also in Petrie's _Ancient Music of Ireland_, p. 116, a translation by O'Curry.

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"Do you remember that night?" Original in Petrie's _Ancient Music of Ireland_, p. 142. He says it was written down for him by O'Curry. The account given by him of its origin does not seem to suit the words.

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"The Exile's Song." Original in _Gaelic Journal_, vol. vi., No. 7, 1895, p. 108. Composed by an emigrant named M'Ambrois (Mac Cambridge), and taken down from James M'Auley of Glengariff and James M'Naughten of Cushendall.

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"The Fisherman's Keen." From Crofton Croker's _The Keen in the South of Ireland_ (Percy Society, 1844), p. 77. It was communicated to Mr. Croker by Mr. Maurice O'Connell. A literal translation, taken down from the lips of Mrs. Harrington, a professional "keener" of Co. Cork, is given in the same author's _Researches in the South of Ireland_. Unfortunately the original Irish is not preserved by him, nor is the name of the lady given who, he tells us, wrote the poetical rendering.

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"The Boatman's Hymn." Taken from Sir Samuel Ferguson's _Lays of the Western Gael_, 1888, pp. 162-3. Original in Hardiman, ii. p. 383.

"Keen on Art O'Leary" by his wife. Original published in Mrs. Morgan J. O'Connell's _The Last Colonel of the Irish Brigade_ (Kegan Paul, 1892), vol. ii., Appendix A., and reprinted with some corrections in the _Gaelic Journal_ (vol. vii., Old Series, No. 74, May 1896), p. 18. Some corrections and additions are made in the following number (June 1896). Crofton Croker, in his _Keens of the South of Ireland_, tells us that he endeavoured to recover this dirge but without success. It is a true example of the spontaneous "keen," with its short broken lines, containing in quick, natural succession, appeals, reminiscences, laments; moving backwards and forwards as the irregular promptings of grief and affection dictate without form or premeditation. It is, however, lifted into the sphere of fine poetry by its exceeding simplicity, and by the passion of grief expressed in its lines.

The circumstances in which the poem had its origin are particularly tragic. Art O'Leary had been an officer in the Hungarian service, but he returned to Ireland, where he had a considerable property in Co. Cork, and where his handsome person and distinguished manners made him very popular. He married, against the wish of her parents, Eileen of the Raven Locks, as she was called from her dark hair, a daughter of Daniel O'Connell of Derrynane, grandfather of "the Liberator." The popularity of Art O'Leary excited the jealousy of a neighbour, a Mr. Morris, whose horse had been beaten in a race by O'Leary's beautiful mare. Taking advantage of the Penal Laws, which did not permit a Catholic to possess a horse valued at more than £5, he demanded the mare from Capt. O'Leary for this sum. O'Leary refused, saying that he "would surrender his mare only with his life." A local magistrate immediately proclaimed him an outlaw; soldiers were sent to lie in wait for him as he was returning home at night, and he was shot through the heart near Carrig-a-nimmy, in May 1773. His wife was informed of her husband's death by the return of the mare without its rider. It was many years before his body was even allowed to be buried in consecrated ground. Morris was tried for the murder, but acquitted; he was soon after shot in his house by Arthur's brother. Art O'Leary's grave is to be seen in the nave of Kilcrea Abbey, Co. Cork; the inscription states that he was only twenty-six years of age when he died.

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"Prologue to 'The Midnight Court'" (_Cuirt an Mheadhon Oidhche_), by Bryan Merryman. The long satire of which we give the Prologue has been published by Mr. Richard Foley (Riscard O Foghludha) (Hodges, Figgis & Co.).

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"Hymn to the Virgin Mary." Original in _The Poems of Egan O'Rahilly_ (1st ed., Irish Texts Society, vol. iii., 1900), p. 290. The author, Conchubhar or Conor O'Riordan was a native of Co. Cork, where he taught the classics and other subjects to the youths of his district. He wrote, about the same time as Gray, a "Meditation in a Country Churchyard," to which this very beautiful address to the Virgin forms the Epilogue or "Binding" (_ceangal_ as it is called in Irish). The whole poem is included in the appendix to Rev. P. S. Dinneen's edition of O'Rahilly's poems.

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"Christmas Hymn." Original in Dr. Douglas Hyde's _Religious Songs of Connacht_ (T. Fisher Unwin, 1906), vol. ii. pp. 224-6; from an old North of Ireland manuscript.

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"O Mary of Graces." _Ibid._, p. 161. Taken down by Miss Agnes O'Farrelly from a lad in the Aran Islands, Co. Galway.

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"The Cattle-shed." Original in _Timthirid Chroidhe neamhtha Iosa_ or _The Messenger_ (published by Gill & Son, Dublin), p. 90. The following nine poems and fragments are from the same publication, vol. i., Parts 1-4.

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"The White Paternoster." _Ibid._, p. 58. The two versions of this favourite charm here given, of which the second is translated from the original in a Kerry journal, _An Lochran_ (October 1900), should be compared with the copies printed by Dr. D. Hyde in his _Religious Songs_, vol. i. pp. 362-70.

"A Night Prayer." This fragment and the eleven succeeding prayers were taken down in Irish among the Decies of Co. Waterford by Rev. M. Sheenan, D.Ph., and have been published by him in his _Cnó Cóilleadh Craobhaighe_ (Gill & Son, Dublin, 1907).

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"The Man who Stands Stiff." From Dr. D. Hyde's _Religious Songs of Connacht_, vol. i. p. 101, taken down from the mouth of Martin Rua O'Gillarna (in English, Red Martin Forde) of Lisaniska, Co. Galway. He spoke no English. This poem is a sample of much of the popular religious poetry dealing with the approach of death and the danger of continuing in evil courses.

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"Charm for a Sprain." This and the succeeding charms are taken from Lady Wilde's _Legends, Charms, and Cures of Ireland_ (Chatto & Windus). It is unfortunate that Lady Wilde does not give either her originals or her authorities.

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